Anyone in the prison service who can help with these questions??

silkyuk9

son is coming out of the army shortly and looking for a job in public service. well prison service is an option but as most application forms there are real difficult questions that need good answrs.

basically, im looking for someone who is in the prison service who can help with these questions, however, if anyone else can help please do.


Please give an example of how you have remained motivated and committed, and have completed a task against considerable obstacles. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the outcome? Answer this question*2Please give an example of how you have used effective communication skills. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the outcome? Answer this question*3Please give an example which required you to analyse information, solve a problem and make a decision. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the outcome? Answer this question*4Please give an example where you had to create plans or organise activities to achieve objectives or improve performance. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the outcome

tizerbelle

OP, could you edit your post a bit so it is clear there are actually only 4 questions not reams and reams of them. It will make it much easier for people to read, help them realise they don't need to write a novel to answer and more likely to generate some responses.

How long has your son served for? Where has he served? I am sure if he thinks about it, he will find situations throughout his army career that can be used to answer these questions. Just answer each part of each question in turn.

For Q1 it could even go back as far as his training days - did he find a particular aspect of training difficult? Why? How did he overcome it and pass the training? Why - presumably because he was dedicated to achieving his goal of serving his country. If he has served abroad I am sure that there are situations he and his squad faced on regular situations that can be used to answer this and the other questions.

What do you think the Prison Service are looking for in new recruits - is there anything on the job description about personal qualities? Anything on the website about what makes a good prison officer? Use this to help.

Sorry can't be anymore specific for you

Good luck

silkyuk9

tizerbelle wrote: »

OP, could you edit your post a bit so it is clear there are actually only 4 questions not reams and reams of them. It will make it much easier for people to read, help them realise they don't need to write a novel to answer and more likely to generate some responses.

How long has your son served for? Where has he served? I am sure if he thinks about it, he will find situations throughout his army career that can be used to answer these questions. Just answer each part of each question in turn.

For Q1 it could even go back as far as his training days - did he find a particular aspect of training difficult? Why? How did he overcome it and pass the training? Why - presumably because he was dedicated to achieving his goal of serving his country. If he has served abroad I am sure that there are situations he and his squad faced on regular situations that can be used to answer this and the other questions.

What do you think the Prison Service are looking for in new recruits - is there anything on the job description about personal qualities? Anything on the website about what makes a good prison officer? Use this to help.

Sorry can't be anymore specific for you

Good luck

sorry did not see the questions repeated 4 times

thanks for the reply, its a start. cheers.

Oldernotwiser

silkyuk9 wrote: »

son is coming out of the army shortly and looking for a job in public service. well prison service is an option but as most application forms there are real difficult questions that need good answrs.

basically, im looking for someone who is in the prison service who can help with these questions, however, if anyone else can help please do.


Please give an example of how you have remained motivated and committed, and have completed a task against considerable obstacles. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the outcome? Answer this question*2Please give an example of how you have used effective communication skills. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the outcome? Answer this question*3Please give an example which required you to analyse information, solve a problem and make a decision. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the outcome? Answer this question*4Please give an example where you had to create plans or organise activities to achieve objectives or improve performance. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the outcome

I feel that if your son can't answer these questions he ought to reconsider whether this is a suitable career choice. You're actually asking people to help him cheat his way through the application process.

dickydonkin

I have to say that the process is a bit laborious.

I applied for a Prison Officers position a couple of years ago and the application form I completed seemed to be a life story of my trials and tribulations.

After completing the protracted form, I was 'invited' to go for an assessment (maths/observation/english) which was the next phase of the application.

By this time, I had realised that I wished to continue the role I had been made redundant from and my heart was really not in a career in the prison service, so I never bothered progressing the application.

Apparently, after the assessment there there is another stage of the application before you even get to the interview stage and I am led to believe that if you have satisfactorily fulfilled the criteria, you may still not be guaranteed a job - but you will be placed on a waiting list.

I also believe that new recruits have to undergo a NVQ in custodial care - although the recruitment process may have changed since my application.

Oldernotwiser is absolutely correct.

The OP is not doing his/her son any favours by attempting to get answers for an application form because from what I remember, they rely on very personal experiences that the applicant has dealt with and he may be found wanting if/when the personal interview process is reached.

I would have thought that having served in the army would have ensured the OP has had many experiences that would certainly assist in his application - just tell him to be himself and be truthful.

bap98189

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I feel that if your son can't answer these questions he ought to reconsider whether this is a suitable career choice. You're actually asking people to help him cheat his way through the application process.

What a load of tosh. Answering these sort of questions on application forms is a skill in itself. Most likely the OP's son, being in the army, hasn't ever had to fill in such a form before. Whatever is wrong in asking for some advice?

Oldernotwiser

bap98189 wrote: »

What a load of tosh. Answering these sort of questions on application forms is a skill in itself. Most likely the OP's son, being in the army, hasn't ever had to fill in such a form before. Whatever is wrong in asking for some advice?

I don't see why, they're worded in a very straightforward way and in plain English.

dickydonkin

bap98189 wrote: »

What a load of tosh. Answering these sort of questions on application forms is a skill in itself. Most likely the OP's son, being in the army, hasn't ever had to fill in such a form before. Whatever is wrong in asking for some advice?

You have answered your own question.

Answering these sort of questions on application forms is a skill in itself.

And that is the point.

Not only do the questions ensure that the recruiter can determine if the applicant can deal with various situations, but also shows that the person can provide evidence that those experiences can be interpreted correctly and documented.

I do concede that many people will complete an application form for a job application for someone else, but as I alluded to earlier, should the application progress further, if the applicant is not up to scratch, they will be found out - in particular in the prison service where there are many stages of the application process.

The prison service will require their staff to compile reports, be vigilant, have good observational skills, deal with potentially violent people, liaise with and communicate with inmates who will undoubtedly be from varying backgrounds and be imprisoned for all kinds of offences etc. etc.

The application process is vital to ensure the correct type of person who can deal with any event and situation is selected for the role.

The wording and specific requirements on the application form is not accidental - it is like that for a reason.

If someone cannot understand the wording or content of an application form for a particular role, then that person needs no reconsider their application.

KiKi

Hi OP

Your son does need to think through these. However, as a starting point for you, these are standard 'competency' based questions. You don't need someone specifically from the prison service to help you. What they're looking for is evidence that he
a) is driven
b) can communicate
c) can analyse and solve problems
d) can plan and organise.

All he needs to do is think of a situation - work, home, social - where he's demonstrated this, and he needs to choose ones which really demonstrate his ability. They want to know: what was the situation, what did YOU do in that situation (not what other people did), what was the outcome.

For example, one of mine might be for Q1:
"I recently left my job as I no longer enjoyed what I was doing. Having done a course in creative writing, I decided to pursue writing as a career." (That's the 'what was the situation bit'.)

"I decided to set up my own business. The most difficult part was finding clients, so I contacted previous colleagues who might need writing support in their companies. I proactively produced my own leaflets and dropped them into local businesses in the area. I signed up to various copywriting sites which promote new writers, and sent off lots of examples of my writing to magazines. It was sometimes very demotivating because there's a lot of competition out there, but I knew I had to pursue it in order to create my own career." (That's the 'what I did' bit.)

"I now have a steady stream of clients and am about to be published in some literary magazines." (The outcome.)

That's not a great example - just off the top of my head. But you get the point.

HTH
KiKi

Uncertain

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I feel that if your son can't answer these questions he ought to reconsider whether this is a suitable career choice. You're actually asking people to help him cheat his way through the application process.

Oh come on......

In a mythical ideal world maybe but given that many of the other candidates will have sought help why should he be at a disadvantage.

That is a bit like saying you shouldn't revise for an exam or practice at sport or help your children with their homework!

Oldernotwiser

Uncertain wrote: »

Oh come on......

In a mythical ideal world maybe but given that many of the other candidates will have sought help why should he be at a disadvantage.

That is a bit like saying you shouldn't revise for an exam or practice at sport or help your children with their homework!

Apart from the doing your children's homework bit, they're completely different - rather more like copying someone's essays at university.

You really aren't helping someone by letting them pretend that they are more competent than they are, although Kiki's general advice does no harm.

Do we really want people doing a responsible job like Prison Officer because they've used somebody else's answers or letting applicants get half way through the application process when they're bound to fail?